


Out of Many, We are One

by bohemeyourself



Series: The Stupid Backstory Verse [4]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-05
Updated: 2011-08-05
Packaged: 2017-10-22 06:17:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/234803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bohemeyourself/pseuds/bohemeyourself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur and Eames watch the signing of the DADT bill. The transcript for the ceremony can be read <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/12/22/remarks-president-and-vice-president-signing-dont-ask-dont-tell-repeal-a">here</a>. The video is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?</p>"></a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of Many, We are One

December 22, 2010

They were in Los Angeles, visiting Cobb and the kids for Christmas. Eames is sitting on the couch, the clock says it’s unbelievably early, his stomach telling him it’s dinner time. He’s channel-surfing, still in the single digits when he comes across the local news station. Something on the screen makes him stop.

The Vice President is speaking, standing at a podium in front of the flags of their country. He’s about to change it when Vice President Biden says something about joining “ _military might with an abiding sense of justice…and making the United States military the strongest it can be in a time we need it to be the strongest._ ” Vice President Biden goes on to introduce the President.

“Arthur,” Eames calls out to where his husband is making coffee in the kitchen. President Obama appears at the podium. “Darling, I think you want to come see this.”

“Arthur!” Eames calls again as the applause dies down and Obama begins to speak.

Arthur comes out of the kitchen with two steaming mugs. He pauses, mouth open around a question when he sees the screen. His face goes blank, and then drawing tight around his recognition. “Oh,” Arthur sets the mugs on the table and sinks into the couch next to Eames.

“ _No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform will be asked to live a lie, or to look over their shoulder to serve the country that they love._ ” Eames thinks back to Germany, to green, green grass and Arthur’s dimples. He puts a hand on Arthur’s denim clad knee, but Arthur’s gaze is glued to the television. “ _…none of them should have to sacrifice their integrity as well_.”

They watch the ceremony in silence. They watch it, and Eames gets the chills somewhere in the middle. “ _…I want to speak directly to the gay men and women currently serving in our military. For a long time your service has demanded a particular kind of sacrifice. You’ve been asked to carry the added burden of secrecy and isolation… You’re not the first to have carried this burden..._ ” Eames squeezes Arthur’s knee.

“ _There can be little doubt there were gay soldiers who fought for American independence, who consecrated the ground at Gettysburg, who manned the trenches along the Western Front, who stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima. Their names are etched into the walls of our memorials. Their headstones dot the grounds at Arlington._ ”

They watch the ceremony to the very end, to the bit where President Obama is shaking hands and signing the document with dozens of different pens. Eames looks over to Arthur, who’s twisting his ring around his finger with his thumb, silent tears streaming down his face. Eames can’t help but smile at him.

Eames takes Arthur’s face in his hands and kisses him, gentle and deep until Arthur is sighing against his mouth. Eames pulls away and wipes at his tears. “Alright there, love?”

“After-” Arthur begins, his voice cracking. “After Germany, after meeting you. It was so hard.” Arthur swallows against more tears. “It was so hard to pretend that nothing had changed, that nothing had happened, that I hadn’t just fallen for you.”

“You kept coming into my dreams,” Arthur continues, unprompted. “That’s why I understood when Dom…” He doesn’t finish. “You kept coming into my dreams, and I had to keep shooting you… The day I called you, I had been running ground exercises with my unit, and you showed up, and I shot you, but you didn't die. I kept shooting and shooting, but you wouldn't go away. So when I woke up, I took the PASIV and I ran. I know what it’s like to be that fucked up over someone. That’s why I stayed with him, never said anything.”

Eames’ chest tightens, and he pulls Arthur close, kisses him, gently rocking them together on the couch. He understood the weight that Arthur carried, the weight of his words. Through all of Arthur’s rambling, his tears, Eames understands what he’s trying to say.

“I love you, darling.” He presses the words like a secret behind his ear. “Always have, always will.”


End file.
